Within the framework principle of sharing knowledge through international co-operation, the Council of Europe and the CD-P-TO and its predecessors have established widely-recognised recommendations and resolutions in the field of transplantation covering ethical, social, scientific and training aspects of organ, tissue and cell donation and transplantation.Whereas Agreements and Conventions are binding on the states that ratify them, resolutions and recommendations are policy statements proposing a common course of action to governments that they can follow.

Agreements and Conventions

TheConvention against Trafficking in Human Organs and its Explanatory Report, opened for signature on 25 March 2015 in Santiago de Compostela, identifies distinct activities that constitute “trafficking in human organs”. The central concept is “the illicit removal of organs”, which consists of removal without the free, informed, and specific consent of a living donor; removal from a deceased donor other than as authorised under domestic law; removal when a living donor (or a third party) has been offered or received a financial gain or comparable advantage; or removal from a deceased donor when a third party has been offered or received a financial gain or comparable advantage.